Hey earth muffins! I have been using makeup from Clean-Faced Cosmetics since the very beginning of my sustainable journey. I absolutely love their mascara and have tried out the foundation powder during my college years. Before I started my new job a couple of months ago, I figured I would try out the Clean-Faced Cosmetics foundation (which also can be used a concealer!). It was my first time going back to the office in a year, so I hadn’t been wearing foundation in awhile… I’ve had some time to test out this product, so let’s jump right into the review!
What I Love About the Clean-Faced Cosmetics Foundation
Obviously I love that this company is zero waste! It is run by a woman named Laura in Grand Rapids, MI – and she has been seeing so much success on Etsy that she recently opened up her own website! 🎉 Her products are made with natural, eco-friendly ingredients which is important to help your skin stay chemical free. All the makeup products come in some sort of metal or glass container; if you ask for a refill of a product, she will mail it over in a compostable bag instead! Supporting small businesses like this is great because I know the products are all top notch AND zero waste as well.
Hey earth muffins! During the pandemic, I haven’t been wearing makeup very much if at all. It has been nice to let my skin breathe! 😊 When I was packing up my bathroom before I moved last month, I realized that some of my makeup needed to get replaced. It was wayyy too old! In the past, I have used Clean Faced Cosmetics cake mascara. It is a great product, but I thought this would be a good opportunity to try another sustainable mascara. I found Izzy Beauty through some Google searching and needed to give their mascara a try. After trying it out for awhile (#gifted), I wanted to share my thoughts in an Izzy Beauty mascara review post – let’s jump right into it!
What I Love About My Izzy Beauty Mascara
For starters, this mascara is zero waste. The product itself is packaged in a stainless steel tube that can be returned to the company and reused over 10,000 times! After using a cake mascara for so many years, it is nice to use a mascara in a typical tube package again. 😃 When I saw that you can send the product back to get a refill, I was concerned that this would create extra mailing waste during shipping. BUT, this company sends your mascara in a reusable mailer. The mailer reminds me of the pencil cases I would use in high school, except with a clear flap for the actual packing label. This is something I have never seen before; so amazing!
Along with the sustainable tube, the brush is made out of recycled plastic. I love that the whole mascara is made of eco-friendly materials AND you can get it refilled. Such a great circular economy! The brand truly cares about the environment, as they take measures to reuse water used in the production process as well as keep manufacturing close together to reduce emissions. Compared to the industry standard, their mascara has a 78% smaller carbon footprint after 25 refills. The more you reuse them, the better!
The back of the reusable mailer
How Does it Work?
I obviously have to mention how the mascara works in this Izzy Beauty mascara review… Spoiler: it works great! I have always been one to enjoy a mascara that gives me length. The shape of the wand does a nice job increasing the length of all my lashes without clumping up. While the black color is noticeably darker than the cake mascara I was using, it compares to other mascaras on the market. The product also increases the volume of your lashes as well. Definitely a great mascara to try out!
What Could Be Better
This Izzy Beauty mascara review would not be complete without mentioning the price. Compared to drugstore options, it is quite expensive. To purchase it one-time, the mascara is $39. The company strongly urges you to sign up for the subscription service to refill your mascara every 3 months. This costs $35 + $19 every month if you pay quarterly; or, you can pay $85 for an annual subscription. While sustainable products are often more expensive, a high price like this will exclude many people from trying it out. The last cake mascara I bought was under $20, so there are definitely better priced products on the market. But, the cost of Izzy Beauty includes refilling, cleaning, and shipping… So it depends on what you are willing to pay for high quality, sustainable makeup.
Lastly, I wanted to mention something that might be a con for people: you get charged a fee if you don’t return your mascara tube and/or reusable mailer. While I think this is definitely justified (as the stainless steel tubes are expensive to make), I feel like many customers would get annoyed with this – especially since this fee isn’t advertised very well on their website when you buy the mascara. I found it buried in the FAQ information. For the mascara, this fee is $25 and the mailer is $5. Definitely not cheap! I like that this is an incentive to return the product (thus keeping the circular economy going), but it needs to be more clear that you will get charged if you do not participate.
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Final Thoughts on Izzy Beauty Mascara
Overall, I think this mascara is good! While it is a bit darker than I prefer, the mascara gives great length and volume to my lashes. The company is extremely sustainable from a zero waste system of refilling to being Carbon Neutral certified. Plus, I absolutely love the idea of the reusable mailers which I have never seen before! While they are definitely a “high-end” product due to the price, it would be totally worth it to purchase this eco-friendly product over another expensive mascara at Sephora. What did you think of this Izzy Beauty mascara review? Comment below and let me know if you would purchase this mascara!
